In Fire and Blood: The 245th Hunger Games
by Mindnight Ink
Summary: The Games have come around again, and every tribute has more to lose than their own life. Who will win? The sociopath from One? The strong girl from Two? The desperate boy from Four? The life-bound friends from Five? The love-sick boy from Seven? The boy from Nine who simply wants to get by? Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor! (Better summary on my profile)


**In Fire and Blood: The 245th Hunger Games  
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**Chapter One: Introducing Sapphire Verndari**

**Hello FanFiction! Here is my newest story, hope you like it! Also, quick note: Please do not be scared off by this tribute. She is the only one of the main tributes who is like this. If you have to, simply skip this chapter and move to the next one. **_**Not all of the characters are crazy sadists.**_** She's mostly here to keep the ball rolling. One of those where you like her as a character, but as a person you hope Godzilla steps on her. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy the story!**

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In the luxury district, a girl doesn't sleep the night before the Reaping. For the first time in her life, fear has her in a chokehold and it won't let go.

The Sadist is well known in District One. Elusive, silent, a shadow. The Sadist has been running around for years, and the Peacekeepers still haven't been able to catch them. They're too good. Because of this, training has been regulated. Everyone who comes must sign in and be verified, and anyone who's too excited or crazy is taken in for questioning, but The Sadist is still escaping. Some say The Sadist is actually a demon, who will not stop killing until the district is wiped out. Others say it's one of the victors who wants to go back in the Games, and that's why the Peacekeeper's can't catch them. Others say it's a Capitol assassin, and all the victims were conspirators against the Capitol and the Games. The truth, nobody knows.

Nobody except a seventeen-year-old girl, who spends the night before the Reaping pacing in her room, filing her fingers to sharper points than ever, thinking, hoping, fearing.

Fear. It's not something she's well acquainted with.

_ "It's you, isn't it," she remembers him saying. "You're The Sadist."_

_ "Of of course not," she had countered. "I was jumped, and I think it might have been them. I stabbed them and ran. What else was I supposed to do?"_

_ "Did you report it?" he had asked. _

_ She had shaken her head. "No, all the Peacekeepers are asleep."_

_ "Then report it in the morning."_

_ "I will."_

She didn't. She never would, never will.

She knows he turned her in. He tipped them off. _How unlike him,_ she can't help but think. _And how ironic. The one person I might feel something about is ready to destroy me._

In a million years, no one would expect The Sadist to be a seventeen-year-old girl, who spent the night before the Reaping thinking, planning, hoping. It finally comes to her. But before she makes any final decisions, she dresses in all black and ties her blonde hair up in a bun. She pulls a black hat on over it and ties a thin black silk scarf over the lower part of her face. A shadow, dark and unnoticeable in the dead of night. A shadow, silent as the dark slips out a window and through the tall buildings of District One. A knife is hidden at each hip. A cemetery is being patrolled, and the Peacekeeper has fallen asleep.

The Peacekeeper is woken and subdued by a blow to the head. Large rocks have always been convenient. The Peacekeeper's gun is removed by gloved hands and left at the gate, and the Peacekeeper himself has his hands tied behind him, and the shadow straddles his chest, pinning his shoulders with her knees. "Tell me," the shadow whispers. "Can you handle pain?"

She is the only one who hears his screams. She knows it's sick, she's always known it, but she can't help it. Smokers know smoking is bad, but they do it anyway. The shadow, the seventeen-year-old girl who spent the night before the Reaping killing a man, knows her addiction is sick, but she can't stop it.

At dawn, the whole district knows that The Sadist has struck again. And the seventeen-year-old girl, who spent the night before the Reaping cleaning blood off her clothes and knives, knows what she is going to do to avoid being executed for her crimes, because volunteers in District One aren't rare.

The seventeen-year-old girl, with blonde hair and eyes like the sky on a clear day, is able to get a few hours of sleep, before being woken for the Reaping.

"Sapphire, Sapph, wake up."

"I'm tired," she says and rolls over. The boy trying to wake her up pulls the covers off.

"The Reaping's today, you have to get up," the boy says.

"Fine, I'm getting up," Sapphire says. Her older brother, Daze, smiles and leave the room. Sapphire watches him go and smiles slightly. If she had feelings for anyone, they'd be for him. But she can't feel, and that's what makes her what she is.

The textbook term would be "sociopath," but Sapphire Verndari doesn't like that word. She prefers "one without sensitivity." She doesn't feel emotions. Really, the closest she feels to anything is when she's torturing someone. That's how The Sadist was born. The sick, twisted adoration of seeing people in excruciating pain. She wouldn't kill them if it weren't for the fact they'd be able to identify her. In fact, for the first few years she left her victims alive, but when one night had ended in her narrowly outrunning Peacekeepers, she decided letting them live wasn't such a great idea, so she started killing them.

But that time might be over now, because of Daze. Lately, Sapphire has noticed an increase in the number of Peacekeepers in her neighborhood. Since the night Daze caught her sneaking in late. Since the night Daze caught her coming home with blood on her shirt. Since the night Daze caught her coming home with a bloody knife.

Since the night Daze accused her of being The Sadist.

Sapphire had repeatedly denied it, telling him she was with her friend Diamond, and it got late, so she had to walk home in the dark. She was jumped on the way home, but that's why she carries a knife, because you can't be too careful anymore, and she had stabbed her attacker. Of course, the whole story is a lie, but Sapphire hopes Daze doesn't figure it out.

When she comes downstairs and enters the kitchen, Sapphire can hear the television. The news, probably. The whole district must know by now.

"There you are, Sapphire," her mother says. "I was about to come and get you. Did you hear? There was another attack last night."

"There was?" Sapphire says, pretending to be sad and shocked. Of course, everyone believes this. Sapphire was always quite emotionless, even as a child, and people would often comment on it. A learned behavior one might say, but over time she began to learn how to fake emotions, and appear completely normal. Confusion on ones like love and jealously is simply labeled as "well, those are complicated." A sociopath has to learn how to blend in, and Sapphire is a chameleon.

"The attack was on the Peacekeeper patrolling the graveyard last night. Poor man," her father says. "I'd say I hope he didn't suffer, but…"

_ But of course he suffered_, is what he wants to say. Everyone knows what The Sadist is capable of. Because their victims are, essentially, tortured until they bleed out. Some of them are unrecognizable by the time they're done.

"So sad," Sapphire says. "I hope they catch him soon." Him, because everyone assumes a girl can't overpower a man. Because everyone assumes a girl isn't capable of a display like this.

"It was the night before the Reaping too," Daze says. "Night of a holiday."

Oh, the irony that District One can mourn the deaths of murder victims, but cheer on the murders of twenty-four children, because it's really the same thing, but the latter is worse.

"Well, let's just hope they catch him soon," Sapphire's mother says. "I would hate it if another person around here had to be killed in such a horrible way. When they catch him they better cut him up the way he did everyone else instead of just shooting him in the head."

Sapphire knows that won't happen, because by the time they catch her, she'll be invincible.

"I hope so too," she lies. "He deserves it." She would say this is a lie too, but she does believe it to an extent. She knows it's wrong, but she can't stop. Only death will make her stop.

"Well, eat up everyone. We have to start getting ready soon," Sapphire's mother says and puts the rest of their breakfast on the table. A few eggs and a plate of bacon later, Sapphire heads back upstairs to her room to pick out an outfit. It takes her a while to decide. So many colors to chose from. White is too innocent, too pure. Black is too dark, too cold. Yellow is too perky. Oh god anything but pink…

Finally, a skin-tight, floor length, open-backed, red satin dress catches her attention. She slips it on and smiles at herself in the mirror. _Perfect._

She debates wearing heels, but doesn't want to take the chance of not making it. In District One, it's not uncommon for multiple people to try to get to the stage at the same time. It's become a tradition that the first one there wins. Sapphire slips on a pair of black flats and ties her hair into a bun. Fitting, seeing as how if today goes her way, she'll have twenty three legal torture victims, and so many, many more. Once she's untouchable.

"Are you both ready to go?" Sapphire's mother asks as her two children come downstairs.

"Ready," Sapphire says with a smile. Daze nods, and the family starts their walk to the square.

The square is packed and the check-in line is long, like every year. Sapphire's parents and Daze fade into the crowd, as the three of them are too old to go into the Games. But Sapphire, at the age of seventeen, is still eligible.

The line moves quickly, and Sapphire soon has her blood taken and is sent off to her section, one group away from the stage. Her friend, Diamond, easily finds her.

"Friend." Such a loose term in this situation. Sapphire isn't one for "friends," but she doesn't object to Diamond following her around. She remembers the night, four long years ago, when she was stalking the area for a victim. Someone small, someone weak, since she was small at the time, and could be overpowered by sheer size. When Diamond Faye had come walking by, it seemed like a holiday.

_ Sapphire patrolled the schoolyard, ready, waiting. Her hand rested on the handle of her knife, and she knew someone would be by soon. More than one student had "lost" their books today, and surely one would be by soon to find it. Diamond Faye soon came into the light, and rattled the gates pathetically. She tried climbing them, and when the fall knocked the wind out of her, Sapphire struck._

_ Or, she meant too. She was on the girl, had her pinned down, had the knife at her chest, ready to slice a breast off, but she stopped. The fear in the girl's wide leaf green eyes stopped her dead in her tracks. It may have been the only time in Sapphire's life that she felt sorry for someone._

_ "I'm so sorry," she said, immediately faking surprise. She climbed off of her, sheathed her knife and offered Diamond a hand. "I lost one of my notebooks earlier and came back to look for it. I heard you and thought… well… you can't really be too careful with The Sadist running around, can you?"_

_ Thankfully, not the sharpest tack in the box, Diamond believed her. "Oh of course," she said immediately. "I thought you were The Sadist for a second. I was so scared, I thought I was going to die."_

_ "So did I," Sapphire lied. "Come on, I'll walk you home. Best I can do after scaring you like that. And… hang onto this." She handed Diamond her other knife. "You never know when you'll need to protect yourself."_

Diamond's been following her around ever since.

"Ohmygod Sapphire, did you hear?" Diamond squeals once she finds Sapphire in the crowd.

"About the attack last night?" she asks.

"Yes, it was on a Peacekeeper patrolling the graveyard. Oh, I can only imagine what the poor man went through. I hope they catch that sick bastard soon."

Whoa, Diamond cursed. There's something you don't see every day.

"I hope they catch him too," Sapphire says. "Oh, shhh, I think they're starting."

Of course, a moment later the Capitol escort steps up to the stage, a thousand watt smile planted on her face. Sapphire recognizes her and the woman who escorted Four last year. She must have gotten a promotion. This year, her hair is gold and done in dozens of poufy ringlets, cascading down her back, almost reaching her hips. Her makeup is silver and glittery, almost obnoxious. Sapphire will never understand Capitol fashions. "Welcome, welcome, citizens of District One! My name is Junia Demeter and I'm your new escort." The audience applauds her and her smile grows. "I would like to show you all a video, brought all the way from the Capitol."

Even in One, the video is boring. The Dark Days, the War, the Treaty of Treason. Finally, it ends, and Junia turns back to everyone. "Time to chose this years tributes from District One. Let's chose the gentlemen first."

Sapphire becomes anxious as Junia walks over to the boy's bowl and chooses a slip. It's customary to wait for the escort to ask for volunteers before the crowd explodes, so the Reaping is a few minutes longer than it should be. The boy's name is called, and one of the sixteen-year-olds steps on the stage. When Junia calls for volunteers, at least twenty different boys trample each other to get to the stage first. In the end, the tribute is a bulky eighteen-year-old that Sapphire sees often at the Training Center. Cocky, and obnoxious as hell, he's been on her hit list for a long time. Brutus Wayland.

"And now, for the ladies."

Sapphire doesn't hear the name being called, she just hears her own voice shout "I volunteer."

"Sapphire, what the hell are you doing," Diamond says next to her. "You can't volunteer, you'll never make it."

"I volunteer! She shouts again, and is soon out of her section and ahead of the other girls. She broke tradition, she didn't wait for Junia to ask, but she doesn't care. All that matters in getting away from the Peacekeepers. Becoming invincible. Sapphire makes it to the stage first, no contest.

"Looks like we have such eager competitors this year!" Junia chirps. "What is your name, sweetie?"

"My name is Sapphire Verndari, and I will win these Games."

"Well, congratulations District One! Here are your tributes, Brutus Wayland and Sapphire Verndari!"

Sapphire's reign of terror has officially left District One, but she hopes to return quite soon, new and improved.

And untouchable.

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**Hello again! So, what do you think of my little psycho here? Again, not all the tributes will be like this so please don't be scared away by her (Maybe it wasn't my best idea to start with her...)  
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**Anyway, if you're reading please review! My heart always skips a beat when I see the number go up! :)**


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